Birmingham, Ala. – Western Carolina baseball used a pair of big innings to support strong pitching performances to sweep both ends of Saturday's Southern Conference doubleheader over the Samford Bulldogs, winning game one 4-1 before powering to an 8-2 game two victory at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Jack Spyke broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, and Wyatt Stanley tacked on an insurance marker with a run-scoring double as Western Carolina claimed the series opener on Saturday afternoon, 4-1. In game two, Stanley blasted a grand slam home run as part of a six-run third inning, with Hayden Friese adding the extra support with a two-run dinger of his own an inning later as WCU completed the sweep with an 8-2 victory.
 
Between the two games, the Catamount pitching staff limited the Bulldogs to three combined runs on just 10 total hits, only one going for extra bases with a game one double. Seven WCU pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts in the twin bill sweep, with Josh Ossiander (3-1) in relief and Dusty Revis (4-4) in the game two starting role, collecting the wins. Brandon Langley earned his SoCon-leading eighth save on Saturday.
 
The three-game series concludes on Sunday with a 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT first pitch and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats linked online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Game One – Western Carolina 4, Samford 1
Western Carolina broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning with a Jack Spyke two-run home run and a run-scoring double by Wyatt Stanley as the Catamounts claimed game one of Saturday's doubleheader, 4-1.
 
Catamount starter Davis Wright struck out six against three walks and a pair of hit batters over 6.2 innings in another solid outing, but did not factor into the decision. The southpaw limited Samford to four hits, including three singles, with just one run allowed. Redshirt freshman Josh Ossiander (3-1) was the benefactor of WCU's three-run eighth after recording the final out of the seventh for his third of an inning out of the pen.
 
Freshman Carter Burnette made his second appearance of the week, striking out one in an inning out of the pen, with Brandon Langley earning his eighth save, fanning two in a hitless, scoreless ninth.
 
Samford reliever Evan Steckmesser (3-3) was the tough-luck loser after starter Miller Riggins struck out eight over seven innings. Steckmesser was tagged for three runs on three hits with a walk. Drew Druckenmiller worked around a walk with a strikeout in tossing the ninth.

Noah Quarless (1-for-2) homered in the third inning to give the Catamounts the early advantage in game one as part of the Catamount catcher reaching base three times, adding two walks. Wright and WCU made the solo marker stand until after the stretch, when a two-out single by Jackson Harris plated Gus Gandy with the equalizer through seven complete.
 
A half inning later in the top of the eighth, Brayden Corn, who returned to the lineup after missing the midweek win at UNC Asheville, reached on a leadoff bunt before Hayden Friese pushed him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Spyke then drilled a two-out, two-run homer to left that made it 3-1. Mason Holton prolonged the inning with a walk before eventually scoring on an RBI double by Stanley to provide the final separation.
 
Burnette subbed for Ossiander to strand a leadoff walk aboard in the eighth with Langley facing the minimum with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth to save the victory.
 
Spyke and Stanley both finished 2-for-4 with three combined RBI as the duo collected four of WCU's seven hits, including two of the three extra-base knocks. Mason Holton reached twice with a single and a walk. Hayden Friese and Trey Spees both had sacrifice hits in the winning effort.
 
Parker McDonald (2-for-4) collected two of Samford's four hits as the powerful Bulldog offense was held in check by WCU's pitchers. Angelo Prieto (1-for-4) tallied the lone extra-base hit with a double.
 
Game Two – Western Carolina 8, Samford 2
Wyatt Stanley blasted his first career grand slam on just his second collegiate home run to highlight a six-run third inning as Western Carolina completed the doubleheader sweep on Saturday with an 8-2 win over Samford at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
Trent Turner (1-for-5) broke the scoreless deadlock with a third-inning RBI single to score Corn, who had led off the frame with an HBP. Spyke delivered WCU's second run with a single to left to score Hayden Friese for the 2-0 advantage. With Turner, Spyke, and Mason Holton all aboard, Stanley uncorked a big fly to right that skirted the backside of the outfield fence for the grand slam homer and a 6-0 lead.
 
An inning later, with Corn aboard with a single, Friese belted a two-run homer to right field to move into a three-way tie for the team lead with seven round-trippers on the year while propelling WCU to an insurmountable 8-0 lead.
 
Meanwhile, Catamount junior starter Dusty Revis (4-4) tossed six innings of four-hit, scoreless baseball as he countered a trio of walks with six strikeouts. He benefited from a first-inning double-play to erase a lead-off single and picked off a base runner in the second. Following WCU's six-run outburst, the Marion, N.C., product worked a quick 1-2-3 home half of the third before maneuvering around a two-out error to strand a pair of runners in the fourth after the Catamounts had pulled in front 8-0.
 
Graduate transfer Brent Walls relieved Revis in the bottom of the seventh inning, recording a third of an inning before Ryan White entered to finish the post-stretch frame as part of 2.2 relief innings. The former Randleman Tiger struck out four of the 10 batters he faced, working around a pair of singles to effectively close the twin bill clincher. White retired the Bulldogs in order in the eighth and stranded a two-out single on base in the ninth.
 
All told Samford stranded nine runners on base in game two while WCU left eight aboard.
 
Spyke (3-for-4) capped his tremendous day in Birmingham with a three-hit game two, running his Saturday total to 5-for-8 with a homer, a double, and three RBI. Stanley (1-for-4) had the biggest swing of the day with his grand slam homer. Holton (2-for-5) and Friese (2-for-5) gave the Catamounts a trio of multi-hit games as Friese plated two on his home run.
 
Samford's Jeffrey Ince (2-for-4) and Cade Carr (2-for-4) combined for four of their squad's six hits, with Ince reaching a third time on a walk and Carr plating both Bulldog runs. Their starting pitcher Cameron Keshock (4-2) took the loss after giving up all eight runs on eight hits, striking out six while walking one in a five-inning appearance.
 
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